Meet James Outman

A couple of weeks ago Jeff asked if I would do a brief write-up on two Dodger prospects – Nick Robertson and James Outman. I had previously profiled Robertson so that one was easy with an update. Today I took a look at Outman and found there was not a lot of detail available on him.

I do remember him quite well in his time with the Great Lakes Loons during the 2019 season. During the first half of that season outfielder Niko Hulsizer was the power guy for the Loons until he was promoted to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes at the end of June. He subsequently was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays in the Adam Kolarek trade.

Following Hulsizer’s promotion to the Quakes, James Outman did replace him as the power bat on the Loons.

Outman was born in Redwood, California and attended Junipero Serra High School in neighboring San Mateo. He played four seasons for coach Craig Giannino at Junipero Serra and was twice named  to the all-West Coast Athletic League second team. He also played middle linebacker and tight end for the Serra football team and earned a West Coast Athletic League Player of the Year award.

Following graduation from high school the 6’3”/215-pound outfielder attended Sacramento State University before being drafted by the Dodgers during his junior year.

During his three years with the Sacramento State Hornets he played right field and was a model of consistency. His sophomore and junior years were basically a mirror image of each other. In both years he played 60 games, hit .253, had 229 at bats, 58 hits, three triples and 11 home runs. His OBP, SLG and OPS were within a couple of percentage points of each other.

During his sophomore and junior years with the Hornets he had 289 putouts, 7 assists and committed only three errors for a .991 fielding percentage.

Outman earned national attention over the summer before his junior season (2018) when he was named Perfect Game’s Summer Collegiate Player of the Year. Playing for the Bethesda Big Train, he took home the Cal Ripken League MVP award after nearly winning the triple crown. In 37 games for Bethesda, Outman hit .341 with nine home runs, 36 RBIs, and 18 stolen bases.

His college stats were not really eye opening so perhaps it was his play in the Cal Ripken League that drew the Dodgers attention. He did display relatively good power, had 24 stolen bases in his college career and played a stellar right field.  Outman confirms that suspicion regarding his summer league play and attributes all the credit  to Dodgers area scout Tom Kunis.

“He saw something in me that I guess other people did not. I started getting attention after my summer going into my junior year where I played in Bethesda, Maryland. I couldn’t thank Tom enough for helping me get a shot.”

He was selected by the Dodgers in the seventh round of the 2018 First-Year Draft and made his professional debut with the Ogden Raptors of the Pioneer League on June 20th. Over 55 games he posted a triple slash of .264/.350/.490 along with 11 home runs, 33 runs batted in and 12 stolen bases.

Outman, who bats left and throws right, was named the Pioneer League’s Player of the Week for August 13-19 during his 2018 season. He went 9-for-18 for a .500 average over five games with two doubles, a triple, four runs and four stolen bases during the week.

“Really cool to see Outman get Player of the Week,” said Raptors manager Jeremy Rodriguez. “He’s worked really hard from where he started, starting his season I think he struggled a little bit going 0-for-23. But with the type of person he is, he kept working and didn’t change. That’s something everyone in the locker room recognized from him. For him to get this success and recognition is huge, and I think it’s going to be huge for his confidence. Everyone here is really excited for him.”

He played the entire 2019 season with the Great lakes Loons mostly patrolling the outfield as a center fielder and often coming up with highlight plays.

https://www.milb.com/video/outman-makes-leaping-catch-c31000000933

Outman again had a slow start to his season in April but finished up strongly with 11 home runs and 19 runs batted in through 26 games in August.  He finished the season with 19 home runs and 56 runs batted in. He walked 56 times but struck out 128 times which would be considered a bit troubling even in these times when strikeouts are not so much frowned upon.

FanGraphs has provided this report on James Outman who is now 23 years-of-age.

“Outman is a pull-and-lift hitter whose best tool is his speed, which helped him swipe 20 bases last year and enables him to play a good center field. His contact issues at a  25.1% strikeout rate as a college-aged hitter in Low-A last year mean he could bottom out, but he plays a premium position and the lift in his swing should enable him to hit for some power as long as he’s not striking out all the time.”

Dodgers Nation, in an interview following the 2018 season, asked what advice he would give to aspiring young players following his inaugural season.

“If I had to give advice to younger players, I would just tell them to relax. I spent my junior year stressing out too much and it hurt me. In the long run, even though we can’t realize it sometimes, baseball players just need to realize that it’s still just a game. If younger players were wondering what they could do to improve their game I would answer by telling them just to get as many swings and at bats as possible and to not stop trying to get better. Nothing in hitting is ever figured out. There’s honestly no secrets in hitting. Just watch big leaguers (the best in the world) and keep learning.”

Although I do not have any direct information about the 2020 Instructional League, I understand that James Outman drew some attention with his work. Perhaps his coaches were able to put the lift in his swing and his power to more consistent use resulting in fewer strikeouts. Also, perhaps AC has some more direct information regarding Outman’s Instructional League play.